August 21, 2013 7:30pm EDTAugust 21, 2013 1:34pm EDTMark Martin's late-season move to Stewart-Haas Racing should have been highly complicated. But thanks to the wide respect for both Martin and Tony Stewart, the deal made sense for both everybody involved.

For Tony Stewart and Mark Martin, it was respect that led to Martin replacing Stewart starting this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Respect for Martin, and respect for Stewart.

It should have been difficult for Martin to convince sponsor Aaron’s, manufacturer Toyota and his team, Michael Waltrip Racing, to let him leave the organization to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing for the rest of this season.

But it only took about five days for Martin to get approval to fill in for Stewart while Stewart recovers from a broken leg suffered Aug. 5 at Southern Iowa Speedway.

“We've been good friends for quite some time with amazing respect, mutual respect,” Martin said. “It's an honor to be in the situation where we're able to do this.

“I'm really, really sorry that it comes at the expense of Tony getting hurt. But one thing I do want to say that is really important here is the amazing amount of cooperation that it took to get this deal done by so many parties. I haven't seen this much cooperation in the past, and I think it was largely in part for the incredible amount of respect that everyone has in the sport for Tony Stewart.”

But it also was because of respect for Martin, the 25-year veteran who has helped MWR improve over the last two seasons while running the majority of races in the team’s No. 55 car.

Stewart will miss the remainder of the 2013 season while his leg heals, and Martin will run 12 of the 13 races in his No. 14 car. Austin Dillon will run the Oct. 20 restrictor-plate race at Talladega for Stewart.

After two years with Michael Waltrip’s No. 55 team, Martin’s plan was for the team to run full time with one driver next season. At 54, he doesn’t want to run a full season anymore, so he wasn’t an option.

With MWR having decided that Brian Vickers would drive the car full time in 2014 and 2015, it made sense for MWR to let Martin go to Stewart-Haas.

But it also is a risky move with Stewart’s No. 14 team in position to win the owners title, possibly at the expense of Waltrip’s No. 56 car (driven solely by Martin Truex Jr.) or MWR’s No. 55 car (driven by Martin, Vickers and Michael Waltrip).

“I love Tony Stewart, who he is and what he stands for, and I love Mark,” MWR co-owner Michael Waltrip said. “He's a special person, and I'm glad he's going to be able to help those folks. That was the motivation, just to be able to help Tony out, and then of course we're going to benefit, as well, with getting our new driver, Brian Vickers, behind the wheel … for the rest of 2013 and get ready for '14.”

Martin, who has 40 career wins in a Cup career that spans four decades, was the first choice of SHR as their long-term solution. Max Papis drove Stewart’s car at Watkins Glen and Dillon filled in at Michigan.

But now Martin will give up his nine remaining races with MWR and add three more to his schedule for the rest of the season.

“Obviously, every time you get an opportunity to work with a driver as great and has the accomplishments he has, you obviously look forward to that, and when we sat down and looked at what we had for options, to run as many races as we need, he was obviously the best option,” SHR Competition Director Greg Zipadelli said.

“There's a lot of options and a lot of people reached out to us, and we're very thankful for obviously everybody wanting to have that opportunity.”

Zipadelli said Stewart wanted Martin from the start.

“Mark just seemed to be the fit,” Zipadelli said. “Him and Tony, they've got a bond. They seem to get along. Tony was very excited about it. That was his first choice, so that's what we went after.

“Like Mark said, everybody kind of giving a little bit in this situation, hopefully it's a win-win for everybody, so we certainly appreciate everybody working with us.”

Martin even worked quickly to have his Twitter handle changed from @55MarkMartin to @MarkMartin. It was changed the day it was announced that he would drive Stewart’s car.

“I have a buddy that has helped me initially with Twitter a good bit, and he actually got in contact with Twitter,” said Martin, who has more than 182,000 Twitter followers

“We went on the computer and searched it out and looked at our options and … there was a lot of cooperation there, and we got it handled, got what we wanted.”

It seems like Martin is getting everything he wants lately, starting with the opportunity to fill in for Stewart.

“Those things like that are difficult to get worked out,” Zipadelli said of the deal to bring Martin to SHR. “Everybody was very respectful of each other, I believe. It just seems to be a good fit for all of us.

“It's about as close to a miracle as you could have happen in such a short period of time.”